Units.mp2
Note: Multiplayer II is adjusted to 2×'' movement in the games at freecivweb.org. Please view the classic manual for units at standard 1''×'' movement.'' Unit Overview Units provide both the mobility your civilization needs, and the violence with which it will survive and expand. The available units may be classified as military units, whose talents are those of defense and aggression, and a few noncombatants which support expansion (explorers, settlers, workers, and engineers), diplomacy (the diplomat and spy), and trade (caravans and freight). The support of your units will be one of your major expenses. Depending on your form of government, each unit may require one production point per turn; and Settlers — the units derived from citizens — also require one to three food points per turn. Note that autocratic governments force cities to support several units for free, which can save production points for other uses. Under representative governments, aggressive units standing outside your borders each cause one or two workers to become unhappy. This makes war quite expensive under representative government, since production points are required to support each unit and luxury points must be produced to mollify the citizenry. Movement Units begin every turn with one or more movement points, depending upon their natural mobility — shown for each unit in the catalogue below — reduced, for damaged land and sea units, in proportion to the extent of their damage. Movement points not consumed by the end of the turn are lost and cannot be stored or transferred. Sea units gain extra movement points if their civilization possesses the Lighthouse or Nuclear power. Every action undertaken by a unit consumes movement points. This manual describes each action in the section where it is most relevant; see the index for the full list of actions. Actions require one movement point unless otherwise noted. The most basic action is movement. Units can move into any of the eight surrounding squares under fairly obvious constraints: land units are confined to land and transport vessels; ships are confined to ocean squares and port cities (which are thus the only cities that can build them); and aircraft ignore terrain, though they must often end their turn where they can refuel — see the description of each unit for specific restrictions. Moving one square usually consumes one movement point, and units can always move one square regardless of their wounds. Rough terrain, however, can be more costly for land units as detailed in the terrain catalogue, and land units disembarking from ships lose all remaining movement points. Enemy units impose zones of control, such that military units, settlers, workers, and engineers cannot move between squares adjacent to enemy units without retreating into unthreatened territory first, unless the square they enter already holds a friendly city or unit, or the unit is one that ignores zones of control. Note also that land units can embark and disembark from transports whenever the transport is adjacent to land or another transport — this does not require ports or other facilities. Land units can move instantly between airports in friendly cities with the airlift action. An airport can participate in only one airlift per turn. Unit Catalogue Several schemes are possible for organizing the variety of units available in Freeciv. This manual arranges them chronologically: each of the eras in the following table groups units which require similar numbers of advances before they can be built. While the eras have been given picturesque names to suggest the periods of history to which they correspond, the choice of which units were arranged together was determined strictly by their technological cost. About a half-dozen attributes define each unit in the following table. The Cost specifies how many production points a city must invest to build one unit. Next comes M''' the number of '''movement points the unit is granted each turn, followed by C''' the number of other units that the unit can '''carry (called its capacity). The combat statistics A''' '''attack strength, D''' '''defense strength, HP hit points, and FP firepower are all explained in the section describing combat. Bronze Age Expansion and primitive warfare require no technology. Settlers can not only found new cities, but improve land and build roads. The Well-Digger is a rare unit that can dig a well if your nation has no available water for irrigation, but should be disbanded immediately to avoid its high upkeep. Since they are for fixing bad starting luck, they can't be used after you discover your first tech. These four units require only one technology each. Workers can improve land but cannot build cities. Horsemen, Archers, and Phalanx provide mobile offense, multi-purpose offense/defense, and heavy defense, respectively. Iron Age This simple transport can only move in ocean and river tiles, and it cannot enter deep ocean tiles. A second tier of more expensive and capable units becomes available. Attack strength outpaces defense strength, making defense difficult outside of walled cities or fortifications on terrain with a defensive bonus. Besides building an embassy, your Diplomat can attempt to bribe or incite rebellion, and can perform espionage and sabotage; see Diplomacy. Diplomats have no upkeep and are not subject to Zones of Control. Age of Exploration Explorers treat all terrain as roads: each move expends only ⅓ move. Explorers are not subject to Zones of Control and have no upkeep. Each Caravan can carry 30 production points to contribute toward a Wonder. Caravans have no upkeep. Both Feudalism and Chivalry advance military organization and make most Bronze Age units obsolete. Pikemen are like a Phalanx that's doubly effective against Horsemen, Chariots, Elephants, Knights, Crusaders, and Dragoons. The Caravel offers greater capacity than the Trireme, can travel rivers, and can venture across Deep Ocean tiles. Age of Gunpowder Magnetism replaces the Caravel with two ships: the high capacity Galleon and the heavily armed Frigate. Both can travel rivers. Steam Engine technology offers the even more specialized Ironclad warship, but from this ship onward, no travel on rivers is possible. Ships from Ironclad onward can pillage buoys. The advent of Gunpowder and the advances which follow make all earlier combat units obsolete. Since this advance does not require Feudalism, the medieval units may be skipped by those eager to reach powder. The new units follow roughly the Bronze Age pattern of heavy defense, multi-purpose offense/defense, and heavy offense. Engineers work twice as fast as Workers or Settlers and offer more ways in which land can be transformed. The Industrial Age The Galleon, Frigate, and Ironclad are replaced by more powerful versions. These and all later ships get improved vision. The Destroyer's range and vision make it a preferred Submarine hunting ship. The Submarine and the Destroyer will kill each other when attacking but lose when defending, creating a deadly game of hide and seek. Rifles give foot soldiers greater attack than defense strength for the first time since the ancient legions. Cavalry are an improvement over Dragoons. Fanatics could almost be thought of as half priced Riflemen with no upkeep, but can only be produced by Fundamentalist governments. Like Explorers, Alpine Troops expend only one-third of a movement point to move one square regardless of terrain; this makes Alpine Troops a powerful unit in mountainous regions. Both trade and diplomacy gain mobility. Spies are capable of more actions than Diplomats; they can be given more precise orders, and often survive and can be reused. Spies have no upkeep. Modern Technology Two new warships offer less mobility but vastly enhanced firepower. The submarine compensates for its weak defense by stealth — the ship is invisible to any units or cities that are not immediately adjacent. Unlike other ships, it cannot attack land units, but it can carry missiles. It has an artificially high 12 attack value that can hit-and-run unscathed with moves remaining, against weaker ocean traffic. This is balanced by an anti-Submarine bonus for most advanced warships -- yet in numbers the Submarine remains deadly effective against all surface ships in the game. Marines fight their country's battles on air and land and sea. Not only are Marines the most powerful foot units in the game, but they are the only land units who can attack directly from ships (instead of having to move onto land first). Armed with a variety of diverse and powerful weaponry, they can even attack Air and Sea units (at a penalty though.) They can disembark without losing all their moves, and can board and attack from Helicopters. Elite veteran-3 Marines are promoted to Navy SEAL with 250% veteran bonus. This along with the ability to attack anything from anywhere, makes them ideally suited for high risk special tactical operations. The Partisan behaves like an armed Explorer, treating all terrain as roads and thus requiring only '''⅓ '''movement point to move 1 square. Some cities will generate them when conquered (see details page). Partisans live off the native land and have no upkeep. Partisans are not subject to Zones of Control. Bombardment continues its steady advance. With Flight, combat takes to the air. Fighters need fuel to avoid crashing and thus must end every turn in a city, on a carrier or an airbase. While aircraft can attack ground units, they can themselves be engaged only by other aircraft, and cannot enter and take undefended enemy cities. AAA are the exception: they are light-weight guns that can attack anything from anywhere, but their primary use is to support ground units against Air units. High Technology The Escort Fighter has larger size for more range, more speed, and more damage absorption; but is less maneuverable for engaging in attacks. Its longer range and ability to stay in the air 2 turns make it well-suited for escorting bombers, longer range scouting with attacks on poorly defended targets, and defensive ground support requiring longer periods in the air. The first of three Bombers, the Medium Bomber can stay in the air longer than Fighters and more successfully take out stronger ground targets. The high risk of bombing operations combined with a lower cost, make it an option to consider even after Heavy Bombers become available. The defense strength of the AEGIS Cruiser is multiplied by 5 when attacked by an aircraft (including helicopters) or missile. Though circumstances allowing it are very rare, they are the only ship who can also directly engage and perform an attack on a nearby adjacent air unit. While transports can carry only land units, the carrier may bear only aircraft (including helicopters). The final generation of ground forces offers the familiar choice between heavy attack strength and defense capability. When attacking units within cities, the Howitzer negates any defense advantage that would be offered by city walls. Paratroopers can be paradropped from friendly cities or airbases, allowing long range actions; they have a range of 14 tiles, and may move immediately after being paradropped. Unlike other airborne units, the Helicopter can conquer an undefended enemy city like a land unit. Though they do not crash for ending their turn outside a friendly city, fortress, or airbase, it does cause two hit points of damage, and they can be attacked by ground units. Helicopters are able to carry one Marines or Anti-Aircraft Artillery unit. Heavy Bombers can end one turn aloft before returning to a city, carrier, or airbase to refuel. They are Field Units which cause Unhappiness in their Home City. AWACS offers greatly enlarged vision. To survive, missiles must end each turn in a city or upon a carrier, submarine or airbase. They are always destroyed when they finally attack. Nuclear combat can cause nuclear winter. (Some multiplayer rulesets have been modified to reduce the range of the Nuclear to 24 or 16, since it is a very potent unit with 2x movement.) The Space Age The final military advances produce stealth aircraft. They offer greater strength and longer range than the aircraft they replace, and are invisible to enemy units and cities except when in an adjacent square.